Tank construction



Feb. 28, 1956.

O. J. BRUDERER TANK CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 21. 1955 INVENTOR. Orlando J. Bruaerer United States Patent TANK CONSTRUCTION Orlando J. Bruderer, San Francisco, Calif.

Application January 21, 1953, Serial No. 332,209

1 Claim. (Cl. 220-1) This invention relates to improvements in tanks and has particular reference to the construction of light gauge metal tanks.

The principal object of this invention is to provide means forreinforcing tanks made of light gauge metal in such a manner that they may be lifted by means of cranes and other hoisting mechanisms without the danger of crushing.

A further object is to provide a tank construction which is economical enough to permit the discarding of the tank after shipment to distant point, if desired, thus saving the railroad transportation of the empty tank for refilling.

A further object is to produce a tank which will comply with all shipping regulations, et cetera.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numbers are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of one form of my tank;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a vertical type tank; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3.

In the shipping of bulk fluids such as oil, tar, asphalt and the like, it has been customary to ship these materials either in tank cars or in barrels. This is particularly true when the product is being exported.

Applicants tanks are so constructed that they can be of considerable size, yet capable of being lifted and stored during transportation, in, for instance, the hold of a ship, or as a deck load, or they may be positioned on flat or gondola cars, thus enabling the shipping of products long distances at a minimum amount of expense and occupying a minimum amount of space per volume handled, as well as a reduction of handling costs.

In the accompanying drawings wherein for the pur-' pose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 5 designates a horizontal tank preferably constructed of thin gauge metal in the ends of which are reinforcing elements 6, 7 and 8, which 2,736,449 Patented Feb. 28, 1956 ice bottom channel-shaped member 9 which is welded to end cross members 11 and 12.

These cross members have welded to each end thereof upwardly projecting and inwardly tapering lifting bars as shown at 13 and 14 in Fig. 1.

Each one of these lifting bars has a clevis 16 secured to its upper end, but it is of course obvious that a pad eye may be used instead.

In the form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown the same form of tank, except that it is positioned in a vertical manner instead of a horizontal manner. In this modified form I employ three I beams as shown at 17, 18 and 19.

To the opposite ends of the I beam 18 I attach lifting bars 21, each of which has a clevis 22 attached to its upper end. Side bars 23 and 24 serve to connect the lifting bars 22 and the opposite ends of the I beams 17 and 19, thus transmitting the load evenly to all of the I beams during the lifting operation.

It will be apparent from the above that when a tank is constructed in accordance with my invention, it is only necessary to attach lifting hooks to each one of the clevises and to then lift the entire tank with the result that there will be little or no additional strain placed upon the light shell of the tank and consequently a filled tank may be readily transported, placed in a freight car or any other means of transportation and again lifted off at the end of the travel, thus permitting the transportation of a fluid with minimum expense.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shape and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

In a device of the character described, a horizontally disposed cylindrical tank having a relatively thin wall structure, the ends of said tank having internal parallel braces extending thereacross and secured thereto, a supporting bar horizontally arranged beneath and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said tank, cross members secured to the ends of said bar and at right angles thereto, and lifting bars connected to said cross members and extending upwardly parallel to the vertical ends of said tank whereby said tank and bars can be elevated as a unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,182,466 Ferguson May 9, 1916 1,487,254 McFarland May 18, 1924 1,891,518 Wright Dec. 20, 1932 1,895,904 Lutts et a1. Jan. 31, 1933 2,330,982 Martin et a1. Oct. 5, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 638,215 France Feb. 14, 1928 40,296 France Feb. 12, 1932 802,605 France June 13, 1936 

